Enhanced Solar Fuel H2 Generation over g-C3N4 Nanosheet Photocatalysts by the Synergetic Effect of Noble Metal-Free Co2P Cocatalyst and the Environmental Phosphorylation Strategy

Abstract

Highly active and durable earth-abundant cocatalysts and photocatalysts are under increasing demand in developing practical hydrogen-evolution reaction (HER) systems. Especially, exploiting noble-metal-free Pt-like HER cocatalysts still remains a significant challenge. In this study, the synergistic effect of metal–organic framework (MOF) derived earth-abundant Co2P cocatalysts and the robust bioinspired environmental phosphorylation strategy in boosting photocatalyic H2 generation over the graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) nanosheets was thoroughly investigated and revealed. The maximum H2-evolution rate of the ternary g-C3N4-Co2P-K2HPO4 photocatalytic systems could reach 27.81 μmol h–1, which was approximately 556 times higher than that of pure g-C3N4 nanosheets. The loaded earth-abundant Co2P nanoparticles with a good electrical conductivity could not only improve visible-light absorption and decrease the recombination of the electron–hole pairs, but also mainly serve as an efficient cocatalyst to lowe...